Ruderman launches award for businesses that hire the disabled

Uriel Heilman

NEW YORK (JTA) – The Ruderman Family Foundation, in partnership with The New York Jewish Week, has launched an award for businesses with strong records on employing people with disabilities.

The awards are meant to highlight for-profit companies in North America with exemplary track records in hiring, training and supporting people with disabilities, and developing innovative approaches to maximizing disabled employees’ abilities. Winners of the Ruderman Best in Business Award will be featured with a profile in a June 19 supplement in The Jewish Week.

“The surest path to full inclusion in our society comes from meaningful employment,” Jay Ruderman, the foundation’s president, said in a statement. “We must hold up as shining examples those employers who have demonstrated a commitment to hiring people with disabilities.”

Seventy percent of people with disabilities are unemployed, according to Ruderman.

Nominations for the award may be made online through March 27 at http://www.thejewishweek.com/Ruderman-best-in-business. A panel of experts in the field of inclusion will select the winners.